BREAKING NEWS

BREAKING NEWS

Holiday Brew

Those looking to stay warm this winter season by filling their belly with delightful holiday drinks have quite a few options located in downtown Jamestown.

At Forte, a holiday tradition of Tom and Jerry cocktails resurfaces every year. A Tom and Jerry is a hot drink made with a special recipe batter that can be purchased at Ecklof Bakery or Jones 212 Bakery. It’s also topped off with an ounce of brandy and spiced rum.

According to Nick Dean, longtime Forte employee, during the summertime guests enjoy fresh mojitos, and during the winter they reach for a Tom and Jerry.

“For as long as I can remember we’ve been doing Tom and Jerry’s – it’s a Southern Tier tradition,” Dean said. “It’s a hot, sweet, dessert drink that people love this time of year.”

In addition to mixed drinks, Forte also carries a rotating selection of beer that area residents may enjoy through the holidays. Forte only has four taps, and it always carries Southern Tier Brewing Company. Right now it has Southern Tier’s Pumking and Old Man Winter on tap, while in bottle it has 2XMAS, Samuel Adams Winter Lager and Anchor Brewery’s Christmas Ale.

Forte will also be open for New Year’s Eve and will feature live entertainment by DJ Jon Bell. According to Dean, the Fourtini, a house cocktail, champagne-based drink might be just what area residents are looking for.

“The Fourtini is Forte’s little twist on tradition,” Dean said. “It’s very popular on New Year’s Eve, as is your basic Chambord and champagne.”

Forte is located at 114 E. Third St. in Jamestown. For more information, call 484-6063, visit www.fortetherestaurant.com or search for “Forte Jamestown” on Facebook.

Another popular drink in the Southern Tier is called Glogg, which is a traditional Swedish and Scandinavian mulled spice wine. Many brew their own versions of the drink, or purchase premade nonalcoholic mixes. Plus, there are a number of clubs, such as The Norden Club of Jamestown, that host an annual Glogg brewing event.

The Norden Club’s mission is to preserve and promote Swedish culture and heritage. Each year, in December, the club hosts what is called the Fixins Event, where club members make Sill, which is pickled herring; Korv, which is Swedish sausage; and Glogg.

“All are made with care in Swedish tradition by closely guarded recipes for over 100 years,” said Petter Turnquist, Norden Club board member. “We celebrated our 100th anniversary in 2011, which was attended by the king and queen of Sweden.”

The brewing of Glogg is also a tradition for Scandinavian groups such as the Busti Glogg Society, who has hosted a competition for the last 10 years. According to Eric Anderson, Busti Glogg Society member, brewing Glogg is a tradition for his friends and family.

“It’s a sense of pride for who can brew the best batch, and we have a little trophy that gets passed around to the winner,” Anderson said. “My recipe uses two types of port wine, topped off with grain alcohol and a number of different spices such as raisin, blanched almonds, cinnamon sticks, allspice and cloves – it smells really good when you’re making it.”

Yet, some prefer options other than mixed drinks or homebrews, such as craft beer or artisan wine, which can be found at Brazil Craft Beer and Wine Lounge in downtown Jamestown. Brazil is owned by Jeff James, who also owns and operates Jamestown’s Labyrinth Press Co. To celebrate the holidays, Brazil will stay open until 2 a.m. on New Year’s Eve.

“We’re going to pass out sparkling wine – it’ll be special,” James said. “We’ve also got a great array of seasonal drinks too.”

For those who would like a festive drink that doesn’t intoxicate, the Lab features several tantalizing options. From a mint mochacinno candy cane latte with dark chocolate almond milk, to an Egg-nogapolooza with espresso, peanut brittle latte or white chocolate raspberry latte; the Lab offers naturally flavored drinks made with passion and wholesome ingredients, said James.

“We always come up with a lot of strange, creative drinks around here, but some flavors are better around the holidays,” said James. “Most of our holiday and fall drinks we make straight from spices and from scratch, such as real mint extract for the Mint Mochacinno Candy Cane Latte – it’s definitely my favorite this time of year. And, we’ve always done the nogapolooza, which is soy nog and espresso with spice on top – it ends up being really nice. And, we’ve done the peanut brittle latte all through fall because it’s been a popular choice.”

The Labyrinth Press Co. is located at 12 E. Fourth St. in Jamestown. For more information, call 708-2471, visit www.labpressco.com or search for “The Labyrinth Press Company” on Facebook.